San Diego County approves $32 million loan to UC San Diego Health for psychiatric beds and crisis unit at East Campus

San Diego County supervisors unanimously approved an agreement on Sept. 24 to advance a partnership with University of California San Diego Health to add inpatient psychiatric capacity and a crisis stabilization unit at UCSD’s East Campus Medical Center.

County officials told the board the arrangement envisions an unsecured county loan of up to $32,000,000 to UCSD Health to fund facility improvements that would create about 30 dedicated psychiatric acute inpatient beds and a crisis stabilization unit (CSU) focused on Medi‑Cal beneficiaries. County and UCSD staff said the CSU would offer short‑term crisis care and the inpatient beds would provide 24‑hour intensive treatment for adults experiencing serious psychiatric crises.

The plan matters because county staff said it would create guaranteed Medi‑Cal beds in a market where capacity is uncertain and allow federal drawdowns for Medi‑Cal billable inpatient services. Caroline Smith, interim deputy chief administrative officer for the Health and Human Services Agency, said the initiative “brings together county departments to advance the ongoing transformation of the behavioral health continuum of care.” David Smith, the county’s chief information officer, summarized the financing…